Kelly and Jen took Friday off work and we headed out of stormy Grand Junction down to Moab, Utah. Our initial plan had been to hike Rattlesnake Arch here in town but that was scrubbed due to the weather. We were going to hike around Upheaval Dome in Canyonlands, but that was scratched because there were no more backcountry passes available there. So, we ended up hiking the Lathrop (Lay-throp) Trail down to the Colorado River. Now, when we initaially planned to do the trip to Rattlesnake Arch, we decided that would be a good trip since its just 14 miles roundtrip and this was Jen and Eddies first backpacking trip. Lathrop, on the other hand, is 22+ miles with 2700ish feet of elevation. Surprise!!
Heading out under cloudy skies. It really wasn't too bad, the clouds kept it cool and we only got a drizzle of rain. The first 2-3 miles of the trip was pretty flat and easy and everyone was feeling good. Then...
We were headed down to the bend in the river down there, waaaay down there.
The big elevation change was a drop of over 1200 feet over 2 miles. The trail was cut into a talus/scree/debris pile on the side of the mesa.
Still smiling! We started up at the top of the mesa behind them, and still had 4 more miles to go.
After close to five hours we finally made it down to the river, set up camp, and had a great dinner of pita pizzas (thanks camp cook Kelly!).
